Magic Johnson’s son is gay, and he’s letting people know how thankful he is to have a family that loves and accepts him and didn’t throw him out in the street like so many others. He credits his parents for helping to make him the strong young man he is today.

He points out that as LGBT civil rights victories continue to happen at a dizzying pace, hundreds of thousands of parents are still kicking their kids out of the house. An estimated 320,000 to 400,000 LGBT youth face being homeless each year, Johnson points out.

I don’t know about anyone else, but I find that number staggering. Painfully staggering. The fact is that there are still many homeless gay teens.

I wrote about a gay homeless youth in An Officer and His Gentleman who was thrown out by his parents and had to live as a victim of his circumstances in order to have a roof over his head. In this case, he lived with a nasty old man who made him walk around all the time without clothes. This book reviewer, Book Utopia Mom, didn’t think that was realistic and she thought the character, Chance, should have found another alternative to those circumstances. This happened about five years ago, and the only reason I mention it now is because I still get a pain in my gut when I think that a straight reviewer would question my knowledge as a gay man, and the review is still up online as it was originally published. She even questioned the hero in the book who is the only person to help Chance out of his desperate circumstances. You can read that here. I can’t blame her totally because her knowledge of gay men obviously comes from limited sources that aren’t accurate, not even with regard to the erotic parts she questions. She obviously comes from a place of privilege. However, in this case, as the gay man, I think I should at least get the last word since I’m the one who has suffered the discrimination all these years. I think I’ve earned that.

Jonah Hill Remorseful

I posted about Jonah Hill lashing out at a reporter last week and using the word faggot. He’s since apologized time and again, and now he’s saying he doesn’t deserve forgiveness and he’s highly remorseful.

But he offered no excuses. ‘How you mean things doesn’t matter. Words have weight and meaning, and the word I chose was grotesque. And, you know…no one deserves to say or hear words like that.’ The actor’s apology was in contrast to actor Alec Baldwin who used the same word in a paparazzi encounter last year. Baldwin has denied using the word despite it being captured on video by TMZ.

I know people who would disagree with me, but I actually think he deserves a break on this one. I think what he said is indicative of the way straight men are raised in the US and it came out offhandedly like it does with so many other straight men. These things are learned at an early age and I think that what happened with Hill will help to change things for the better. I also think his apology was sincere.

There’s a lot of gay discrimination out there, and it doesn’t always come in the form of words like faggot. A lot of times it comes in more subtle ways, like the way the book reviewer above questioned my experience as a gay men in An Officer and His Gentleman. I think it’s important to understand where it comes from, and how sincere the apology is.

Bonus Excerpt: An Officer and His GentlemanI don’t often post excerpts on Thursday, but since I mentioned this incident with An Officer and His Gentleman I figured I would post something else about it. I haven’t done that in a few years.

From the raw version before edits…because HTML is hard to convert. I’d forgotten about this, but the title of the book in my original file was intended to be An Officer and a Very Gentle Man. The publisher wanted the change, not me, to make the book sound more like the straight movie title, An Officer and a Gentleman, even though very few things in the book are related to the film…other than the Cinderella trope. It’s not fanfic. I’m not a fan of the film. It’s more like a loose version parody, with many, many differences from the film, and few social and political statements.

But there is a very happy ending.

He got dressed and went down the back staircase slowly, then out the back door and into the barn. Before he did anything else that morning, he wanted to see if there were any squirrels in the traps. And sure enough, there were four more brand new squirrels trapped in cages and barely moving because they were so frightened. He shook his head when he saw the poor things trapped like that, but he smiled when he took each cage out back, opened the trap doors and set them free again. He didn’t want to spray their tails that morning; it would have made Dan suspicious. He had to wait a few days so Dan would think the squirrels he’d driven to upstate New York had actually traveled back on their own accord.

When the empty traps were back in the barn and reset, Chance went into the kitchen and started to prepare his special for the day. Because he wanted some free time to make a few notes for the recipe competition, he decided to do one of his classic specials, a simple mac and cheese that everyone loved. Betty Shack had pleaded with him to share his secret ingredient more than once: “There’s something in there that’s different, but I can’t put my finger on it; please tell me.” But he smiled and told her he’d die with his secret. She never would have guessed that what made hismac and cheese stand out from all the others was plain yellow mustard and ground nutmeg (pre-ground, right from the can; you didn’t have to grate it yourself with a pretentious tool).

The most important ingredient he always included in all his recipes was love. The love of food and the ability to love the food enough to know how to choose the perfect combination of ingredients that made a recipe stand out. Ah, he’d seen too many cooks try to follow a recipe that never turned out very well; they didn’t have the love; everything they cooked tasted like sawdust. So when the large pans of mac and cheese were baking in the oven, he began to work on his presentation for the food network. Though he still wasn’t sure he’d even be selected (that was random luck; and he wasn’t lucky), he figured it was best to be prepared. The lasagna Bolognese was simple enough to set up, but he wanted to show the people at the food network it was a recipe where the entire family could participate. Small children could mix and knead the pasta dough while an adult arranged the Bolognese sauce and the béchamel sauce. Then, when all the ingredients were prepared, the kids could help layer the lasagna pan because there really wasn’t a wrong way to put it together. He sat back and smiled when he envisioned young children with spots of flour on their faces helping adults create something wonderful for the family meal. He missed that living at Dan’s market; there was no family and no love.

He thought it was important for young children to learn how to get around in a kitchen, too. Cooking was fun, but it was also serious business. Young children had to understand that only adults could handle sharp tools, and older kids had to know how to use sharp tools safely. There was nothing more fun that family cooking, but you couldn’t take anything for granted either. He made notes that morning, carefully imagining how children might react during the cooking process; the animated expressions on their faces when you taught them how to crack an egg or mix a bowl of cake frosting; the way they smiled when they licked a cake batter bowl. And most of all, he wanted people to understand that the ingredients for basic family oriented recipes, whether it be lasagna Bolognese or Beef Wellington, did not have to cost a small fortune. When he watched cooking show hosts on TV, there were times he shook his head and squeezed the sofa pillow as hard as he could. They used outrageously expensive ingredients, like saffron and truffles. Most families watching couldn’t afford to buy things like that; they weren’t cooking in expensive restaurants. He even threw the sofa pillow across the room more than once when one particular cooking show host enforced using “the best cocoa money can buy; always use the most expensive ingredients when baking a chocolate cake,” she said. She made the audience believe they had to buy an outrageously expensive imported cocoa, when regular old Hershey’s would have done just as well. He’d learned, through experience, using the most expensive ingredients money can buy is nothing more than hype and myth in most cases. It was all about the love of food and how you incorporated the ingredients that really mattered; not how much they cost.

When Dan walked into the market that morning, he wasn’t banging his fist on the counter and giving orders as usual. Though he wasn’t actually smiling, the squirrel traps were empty and all was well with the world. But he did stare at Chance for a moment when he saw the band aid on his neck. “What’s-a wrong with your neck, you?”

Chance was leaning into the deli case and turning the potato salad over so it would appear fresh. He looked up and said, “I cut it shaving this morning. It’s no big deal.” But he bit his bottom lip and prayed the bruises on his ass would go away by the time he had to go upstairs and walk around naked.

“Ah,” Dan said, “I’m going out to get new tires on the truck today. I’ll be back by lunchtime.” He didn’t bother to ask how bad the cut was or if he needed stitches. Chance hadn’t bled to death and that was good enough for him.

Sarah walked through the front door at nine. When she looked at Chance, she was smiling so wide he saw all her teeth from across the market. He had just finished slicing a quarter pound of Swiss cheese, extra thin, for Mae Conklin and he was wrapping it up. Mae was a soft spoken, mousey woman in her seventies, the last old maid left in town. He handed the cheese to Mae and then followed her to the cash register so he could check Sarah’s cash drawer. When he looked at Sarah, he pressed his palm to his throat and stepped back. She was wearing a very low cut, tight tee-shirt that morning: her large tits were busting out. It was black, which created a severe contrast against her pale white skin. At the bottom of her neck, and just above her ample line of cleavage, there were two large, obvious love bites. The one on her neck was the size of a quarter; the one on her bosom was two inches long and an inch wide, with small red teeth marks.

Chance ignored the marks. He opened the cash drawer and started counting the money while Sarah rang up Mae Conklin’s Swiss cheese. But Mae leaned back when she noticed the offensive love bite on Sarah’s neck; she actually gasped when she saw the larger one on Sarah’s bosom. Poor Mae, she started to rock on back and forth in her brown vinyl mules, and her bottom lip started to quiver when she reached into her little brown change purse for money; she tried to look away when she handed Sarah three one dollar bills and thirty-nine cents in exact change (older women were always exact change), but Sarah’s big tits were practically in her face. There was a small crumpled piece of blue foil leftover from an old pack of lifesavers attached to one penny, but Mae didn’t bother to remove it like she normally would have. Sarah took the money and Mae grabbed the Swiss cheese and ran out the front door without even asking for a bag.

Chance closed the cash drawer and said, “Why don’t you just wear a sign that says, ‘I got fucked last night.’”

“Hey,” she said. Her voice became nasal and loud. “I had fun. Mike played with my tits for so long I thought they were going to fall off! And if you think these marks are bad, you should see the ones in other places. He bit me so hard down there I thought I’d scream.” Then she reached for the top button on her jeans and pulled it open.

“No,” he said, “I’ll take your word for it.” He raised both hands in the air. The last thing he wanted to see was the love bites on Sarah’s ass; he didn’t want to hear any of the details either. He was very happy for her, but Chance didn’t believe in gossiping and bragging about sexual escapades. Certain things were private, and should remain that way.

Sarah raised her right eyebrow and put one hand on her hip. “Don’t get so high and mighty with me. I see you’re wearing a band aid on your neck this morning.”

“I cut myself shaving.” He smiled and left her standing there so he could get back to work. As he crossed toward the deli counter, it occurred to him he could still feel Brody’s penis in his body; he could still feel the fullness and power. He smiled and stared at a large barrel filled with long sticks of pepperoni. Then he took a deep breath, smoothed out his apron and went back to re-organize the spice shelf.

Later that day, while Dan made him move all the heavy produce stands from one side of the market to the other, he fell back against a tall metal shelf stacked with pretzels and potato chips. He didn’t hurt himself; it wasn’t an accident. He’d been planning to fall back against something, when Dan was in the market watching, so that when he removed his clothes later that night he’d have a good excuse for all the bruises on his ass and the backs of his legs.

And it worked, too. When he took off his clothes and walked past Dan that night, the old man clutched the arms of his chair and leaned forward. “You had some fall this afternoon.” He rubbed his chin and ran his fingertips over Chance’s bruised ass. “You got some good bruises back there; but it’s good youdidn’t really hurt yourself. Then you would have cost me money.”

“I’m fine,” Chance said, “They look worse than they are.” Thankfully the red handprints had faded during the day and now they looked more like authentic bruises from a fall. He shrugged and sat down on the sofa to watch TV.

Chance was dying to watch the food network, to see if they would mention anything about the recipe competition. But Dan wanted to watch a show on the discovery channel about monkeys. He loved sit in his chair, scratch his balls, and watch monkeys; he thought they were comical. And his eyes became glued to the screen when he saw a show about little people and dwarfism. At eleven o’clock he scratched his balls, lifted his leg and farted; and slowly stood to hobble back to his bedroom. He said he had a headache. “I’m going to take a sleeping pill tonight.”

Chance remained on the sofa for another half hour, but he couldn’t find a comfortable spot; he moved from one side of the old leather sofa to the other and kept sighing out loud. When he looked at the candle stick on the coffee table, he started to think about Brody. And when a chef on the food network began to prepare a boiled dinner of Kielbasa and Sauerkraut, his penis started to grow. The old man was snoring so loudly he could barely hear the TV chef speak; all he saw were the guy’s great hands holding a mammoth Kielbasa. So he stood up and crossed back to his bedroom to get his car keys and a clean white apron.

It was dark out because the sky had been overcast with clouds all day, and the car was facing in a downhill position. He slowly inched his way out of the gravel driveway in neutral. He was sitting behind the wheel in his bare feet, wearing nothing but a white chef’s apron. When he was far enough away from the market, he started the car and clicked the light switch. He squeezed the steering wheel tightly and took a deep breath; Brody might get mad at him for showing up unannounced, and wearing practically nothing, but he needed to take that chance…he needed Brody to fill him up again.

When he pulled up to the big old house, the front light over the door was on and Brody was sitting on the veranda in a rocking chair. While Chance opened the door and stepped out of the car, Brody put his hands on his hips and walked down the front steps. He was wearing the same sweat pants that Chance had washed; his feet were bare and he wasn’t wearing a shirt. He took one look at Chance, standing there wearing the apron, and rubbed his chin. “I was expecting you tonight,” he said.

Chance smiled. “You were not. You were just sitting there holding your dick because you couldn’t sleep.” He was younger than Brody, and by no means as worldly. But he didn’t want to come off looking like a sex starved slut.

I think this is probably one of the most comprehensive pieces I’ve read yet about the antiretroviral drug, Truvada, as it applies to HIV prevention. The FDA approved Truvada for use in preventing HIV infection, but there’s also been a division within the medical community for many reasons, and this article titled, “What Is Safe Sex? The Raw and Uncomfortable Truth About Truvada,” by Rich Juzwlak, probably covers everything most people need to know for now.

I know about Truvada not as a prevention drug but from dealing with friends who are HIV poz and take it as part of their antiretroviral therapy. But Juzwlak gets into how it applies to raw sex, the choice to bareback, and a lot of the more emotional aspects with respect to Truvada and HIV prevention. And it’s not just for gay men. It’s for everyone.

The understanding that I might benefit from using Truvada dawned on me slowly, like I was stuck permanently at 6 a.m. for a few months. It was other guys who helped prompt my decision, like the ones I had the sense not to fuck raw when they assumed that’s what we’d be doing on first meeting, or the ones who tried to fuck me bare so casually, it was like they were going in there to check their mail. It was the guy who told me, “Yes, I’m negative—I was tested in February,” in October. It was the guy that I hooked up with who then proposed a threesome via text: “My friend said he wants to fuck raw.” This was a few texts after I told him, “I play safe,” and he said, “Yeah, me too.” A few texts later, he admitted he’d already fucked raw with our prospective third.Juzwlakalso mentions important things we don’t often see when reading about Truvada, like long term side effects and cost. One prescription costs around $1,389.99 and it can reduce bone density and cause kidney problems. Those who are HIV poz and are on antiretroviral therapy and take ARVs like Truvada have regular blood work done every three months to monitor all these things. It’s a way of life.

On top of that, there are immediate side effects:

Unfortunately, I discovered that taking Truvada gave me too many new things to feel. Whatever short-term side effects I could get, I did. Less than a week out, I started to feel a deep sense of fatigue every day around 6 p.m. It was something I could power through and eventually shake, but it made me feel like dropping to the floor and passing out instead of going to the gym or attending movie screenings. I had perpetual muscle soreness, especially in my legs, as if I had squatted way more than I should have the day before. My skin got worse. I developed a disgusting, raised rash on my torso that my dermatologist told me was the result of a nickel allergy (I had been wearing the culprit belt for years). I was gassy.From what I’ve seen with friends, I can back all this up…and even add more because different people react differently.

But one of the most interesting things about this piece I spotted was that most people who are on Truvada for prevention don’t always take it regularly which could present even more issues. If you talk to any ID doc who treats mostly HIV patients he/she will tell you one of the most common things with people on ARV meds is that they aren’t always consistent with taking their meds. I don’t know why. It’s just a fact that I’ve heard many, many times from health professionals.

As I said above, if you don’t know anything about HIV prevention or Truvada you really should read this article. I only covered the bare essentials here. It’s long, but covers so many aspects you’ll basically get everything you need to know right there.

Of course I’ve heard of Elaine Stritch, however, she’s never been my icon. I appreciate her work (what little I know of it), so please don’t get me wrong. But she’s another one I wouldn’t stand in line to see on my best day. But she is, according to this article, a “gay icon,” and even she didn’t know it until recently.

‘I’m just becoming aware of it – by articles such as this one,’ she admits to PrideSource magazine. ‘I really have become very much aware, first of all, what great audiences they are. And it isn’t that I finally discovered that gay people understand me and straight people don’t – oh, no no no. Not a word of truth in that. I can’t tell you how many straight people I know that think I am the cat’s pajamas.’Now go back and read that statement again, but this time replace gay people with African Americans…or any other minority. “What great audiences THEY are…” If she were talking about African Americans or any other minority that would ring of racism. I don’t fault Stritch for this. I truly don’t, and I’m not getting all PC here now. We are all to blame. And she’s right. I’m sure there are even more straight people who think she’s the “cat’s pajamas” than there are gay people.

James Franco’s New Gay ParodyLast November I posted about James Franco’s gay parody with Seth Rogen, and now he’s done another for the cover of Vogue. This time the focus is on Kanye West and Kim Kardashian, with Rogen photo shopped wearing a wedding dress and Franco with his arms around him.

Coming Out to Rejection: Jonathan AllenI’ll never forget one book review I had for An Officer and His Gentleman about four or five years ago where the book reviewer mocked the main character’s choices and slammed him for not changing his circumstances. Chance, the main character of that book, was thrown out of his home when he told his parents he was gay and had no other choice but to live with a mean old man who made him walk around naked all the time. What shocked me most about the review was that some people think this sort of thing doesn’t happen to younger gay men anymore. As if we all live in places like San Francisco and everyone welcomes it with open arms when their kids come out of the closet. But that’s not the case. And I haven’t read anything more definitive of this than the article to which I’m linking right now. Jonathan Allen, a finalist in America’s Got Talent, came out and his ultra-conservative family kicked him out of their home.

Allen came out to his conservative parents and was kicked out of their home but, thankfully for us, he’s since persevered with one of his natural gifts intact – his voice. Allen was a semi-finalist this past summer on NBC’s competition series America’s Got Talent where he shared his story and blew away the judges – Howard Stern, Heidi Klum, Mel B and Howie Mandel – with not only his commanding voice but also his self-effacing wit and natural charm.He looks like a great kid. You can read more here. I find the story even more interesting because my character in An Officer and His Gentleman also wound up being a contestant on a reality cooking show in the book, and he depended on his best talent to get him through the worst of times…in his case it was cooking.

The review I’m talking about that slammed the Chance character can be read here. I’m glad the book reviewer left it up because I like having this point of reference when I’m writing posts like this. This is a quote from the review:

I had hoped from reading the blurb and excerpt that it would end up being quirky instead, but Dan treats Chance so abysmally, it might as well be abuse.And the problem is, Chance takes it.This was one of my biggest stumbling blocks in the entire set-up.Chance is an incredibly talented cook.He’s young.He’s reasonably bright.He’s a hard worker.How am I expected to believe this is his only alternative?As a gay man I failed to understand there would be people who don’t realize these things still happen, or that I would be questioned as a gay man for knowing more about the gay community from personal circumstances than someone who is straight. It’s not good enough to show these awful things happen. You need to tell them, in detail, sometimes that we all don’t live in the loving accepting, cliched world of Modern Family. I wouldn’t mind the review at all if the reviewer were to have put up a disclaimer stating she’s not gay. You can’t fault people for not knowing something. However, I wouldn’t question Toni Morrison or her experience as an African American in African American culture and I don’t like being questioned as a gay man in gay culture. But what do I know? Obama Picks Gays for Olympics

After an aggressive effort on the part of gay rights groups urging the President to include prominent athletes from the LGBT community in a delegation representing the US at the Russian Olympics this winter, Obama has chosen some impressive names making a clear statement to Russia. Billie Jean King will be part of this delegation at the opening ceremonies.

White House spokesman Shin Inouye said that the delegation “represents the diversity that is the United States” and that Obama was proud to cheer America’s athletes on at the 2014 Olympic Games.

“He knows they will showcase to the world the best of America — diversity, determination and teamwork,” Inouye said.

Frankly, after hearing the most recent statement by an actor in Russia who wants to burn gays alive in ovens, I’m still for boycotting completely. I wish I were more of an optimist and that I had the faith some people have. But I don’t think anything we do or say in Russia at this point is going to change how they think. Sometimes you just have to order them to “take down that wall,” so to speak. We need strong leaders for this, not mediators who can give good speeches.

But it should be interesting to watch, and even more interesting to see how Russia treats gays this time next year. I don’t have much hope from what I’ve seen so far. History always repeats itself.

Are kids gay? Do they realize they are gay at a young age? In yesterday’s post I talked about how people get horny at weddings, which is not at all related to Matt Bomer discussing how he grew up in the closet. But there is a small connection between this post and yesterdays wedding post I think is important to talk about that deals with gay kids, the way they hide it, and the topic of bullying. And how gay men like me, as adults, are often targeted in ways most people wouldn’t even expect.

I’m one of those people who can listen to six conversations at one time and absorb what everyone is saying without missing a word. As a writer, I’ve learned to observe people…their actions, their expressions, and even the tones in their voices. And weddings are great places to sit back and watch how people behave and react.

There are always a few kids at weddings. At the one I went to on Sunday there were about six or seven that ranged in ages from six years old to fourteen years old. I immediately focused in on one kid from the bride’s side I didn’t know anything about. He must have been around ten or eleven years old. He was wearing a small black straw hat, tilted to the side, and he stood out from the other kids without having to even try hard at it. As noticed him throughout the evening, I quietly watched how friendly he got with another boy who was probably about twelve. I even mentioned it to Tony, and then to my sister, and we all exchanged a glance. At one point, those two boys were having such a good time with each other I was sure they were going to dance together. I was hoping they would. They acted as if there was no one else in the room except them.

Were they both gay? I couldn’t say for certain. But I would bet they were because I rarely see two boys look at each other they way they were. They never actually danced with each other, and they maintained that invisible line all young gay people learn how to draw and they never crossed it. But they way they looked at each other, and the way they seemed so into each other was fascinating to watch. And a little sad, too. Both kids come from families where they have gay relatives like Tony and me, and yet they were still terrified to actually show how they felt about each other.

And that’s because gay kids still don’t talk about being gay, at least not most. I never did and I knew it at three years old. Thankfully, Matt Bomer talked about it recently and what he said backs up anything I could say in this post about how gay kids hide who they are, and about how they grow up with a set of extra baggage straight kids don’t have to deal with. I hate to make Matt Bomer sound like the spokesperson for gay men on topics like this, but so far he’s the only one honest enough who WILL talk about it openly.

“When I was in high school, there was no safe haven, there was no outlet for you to speak your mind. So I did what any self-preserving 14-year-old would do—I signed up for the school play and also the football team to cover my tracks.”

I don’t think there’s a gay man alive who can’t identify with that. I’m sure those two boys at the wedding would know exactly what he’s talking about. I even wrote about a young gay man in “An Officer and his Gentleman,” who was a victim of his circumstances and one reviewer said it wasn’t realistic. I let her get away with it at the time without making a fuss. She obviously didn’t like the book and she had something against my publisher, and I can live with that. But the comment about it not being realistic will bother me until the day I die. I think if she were do to this today, I would confront her in a different way. Why didn’t I confront her with more force at the time? Because I’ve been taught and conditioned as a gay man to keep it quiet, let it go, and pretend it doesn’t exist. In other words, join the school play and the football team to keep everyone else happy. This is a quote from that review:

He’s reasonably bright. He’s a hard worker. How am I expected to believe this is his only alternative? There’s never enough reason or depth provided to make this situation plausible in the slightest. Its only purpose seems to be to put Chance in the most awful circumstances possible and then show him a man who can save him from all that.

At the time, I didn’t realize I had to go into detailed over-kill back story about a young gay man’s experience. Since then, I’ve had letters from gay men all over the world who could identify with that story. The gay men all got it. I said his family threw him out and that, I thought, was good enough in order to move the story forward. This reviewer asks how she’s supposed to believe this. Well she’s supposed to believe this because I am the gay man writing about a gay character and I know better than she does what it’s like to be the gay man. And that’s as plain and simple as it gets. I don’t see anyone telling Toni Morrison what it’s like to be African-American, so don’t tell gay men what it’s like to be gay.

But I digress. Here’s a comment from the Matt Bomer article I thought was nice:

“You are the example that the rest of our country needs to wake up and see in terms of equality and putting an end to the bullying epidemic and making sure that every family is respected in our schools and our society,” Manganiello, who also reportedly attended college with Bomer, is quoted as saying.

You can read the rest of the article here. There are more interesting links and even a mention about that idiot Bret Easton Ellis. And I’d like to add one more thing. If you see bullying, stop it. Even if it looks like harmless teasing it can be harmful to kids and they don’t even realize it. Things are better now than they were when Matt Bomer and I were growing up, but things still aren’t all that great.

I’ve been wanting to post about this for a while but something keeps coming up and I keep postponing it.

The reason I’m posting is I’ve had a few readers e-mail me and ask if any of my books are available on audio. One is: AN OFFICER AND HIS GENTLEMAN. You can find it here, on audible.com. There are a lot of reviews, too. Unlike goodreads, where who knows what goes on, I’m always comfortable with the reviews left on web sites like audible. In fact, as a reader, I often go there to check out the reviews when I’m thinking about buying a book.

Why do I do this? It’s simple. I trust the authenticity of the reviews at places like audible more so than I trust them at goodreads and amazon. I won’t go into detail about why in a general sense. It’s partly because I believe readers, and only readers, make purchases at sights like audible and leave reviews. And I’ve explained it partly in this post. And as a reader, I’ve found that most reviews on audible have never let me down.

Will there be other books of mine on audible.com? I honestly don’t know the answer to this. If I had the power to control this, I would invest my time and money to do this without any questions. If I ever decide to indie publish, I will definitely do this. However, I don’t have any choice in the matter. Publishers decide these things. So if you are interested in listening to more books, contact the publishers and let them know. They usually like hearing these things. And if enough people do it they might even pay attention.

If you haven’t read AN OFFICER AND HIS GENTLEMAN, it’s now being offered for free, for a limited time, here. …on allromanceebooks.com. I love this site. I download a lot of my own books there. It’s very simple to use.

And, for the people that patronize book pirates. Maybe you should take a little click over to allromance and check out this free offer. There are other books for free, too. You guys might find that it’s a good feeling to download free books that were authorized to be free books instead of stealing your books from sleezy pirate sites. All publishers do these free offers all the time, not just ravenous romance. And this way, even though you guys don’t seen to care about supporting your favorite authors by buying books (or about the fact that you could get caught and prosecuted), at least you can support them by acknowledging their free offers.

An Officer and His GentlemanBy Hollan Publishing, Inc.View More By This DeveloperOpen iTunes to buy and download apps.Description“Ryan Field has written a very sensual love story that will leave the reader wanting more. The characters are engaging and the story is definitely not the typical fare. This was the kind of story that deserves to be read more than once. An Officer and His Gentleman is definitely a four star work that will leave the reader wanting more from this very gifted author.” –Sensual Ecata RomanceChance Martin, who dreams of becoming a chef on the Food Network, works at a grocery store for a quirky old man who gives him free room and board as long as he walks around naked when the store is closed. But Chance is only interested in cooking, until an attractive stranger walks into the market one morning. Brody Johnston, bad boy naval officer on extended leave from his post in Europe, can’t take his eyes off innocent Chance’s round buttocks and smooth legs, and is determined to get to know him better.So when the old man goes to bed, Chance sneaks out to meet Brody and discovers his talents in the bedroom rival his talents in the kitchen. Though they are complete opposites, Chance is ready to submit to all of Brody’s sexual kinks and desires, but it never occurs to him they might actually fall in love with each other. As Chance fights to live his dream as a chef, and Brody wrestles with the opportunities and limitations imposed by the military, will they be able to find happiness in each other’s arms?…MoreAn Officer and His Gentleman SupportWhat’s New In Version 1.1

Posts navigation

Author of over 100 published LGBT romance novels and stories, including AN OFFICER AND HIS GENTLEMAN and best selling VIRGIN BILLIONAIRE SERIES. Hates beets.
New Hope, PA Palm Springs, CA
ryan-field.blogspot.com